The former president made the announcement Saturday.
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday told a Libertarian Party event that he will commute the founder of the infamous Silk Road online marketplace during his first day in office.
“And if you vote for me, on day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,” the former president said, referring to the creator of the dark web website that was used to facilitate the sale of illegal narcotics. That generated an applause from the audience. “He’s already served 11 years … we’re gonna get him home,” he added.
His comment drew cheers from the crowd. Mr. Ulbricht is currently serving life in prison for creating and operating the Silk Road site between 2011 and 2013, which facilitated the sale of illegal drugs and other services before the FBI targeted him.
The Silk Road was ultimately taken down by the FBI in 2013, and Mr. Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 of continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the internet, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents, and more charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
“It’s time to be winners,” said President Trump, adding: “I’m asking for the Libertarian Party’s endorsement, or at least lots of your votes.”
At times during his speech, the former president noted that Libertarian presidential candidates only generate small figures during elections. “You can keep going the way you have for the last long decades and get your 3 percent and meet again, get another 3 percent,” he said.
Then-2020 Libertarian Party nominee, Jo Jorgensen, received about 1 percent of the votes in multiple swing states, including in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Before that, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won about 3 percent of the national vote in 2016.
Although it’s a small figure, those voters could have the capacity to swing elections in battleground states in favor of his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden. Libertarians will pick their White House nominee during their convention, which wraps on Sunday. The former president’s appearance at the convention also gave him a chance to court voters who might otherwise support independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. who gave his own Libertarian convention speech on Friday.
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